Journey of a Girl

Ajo: Chapter One

A little girl was running beside a fawn in the distance.

Her hair was the color of a sunset, varying shades of blue and purple, and her spirit was filled with the kind of joy only felt by children, before they've known things like loss or despair.

She was racing the deer to a lone tree in the middle of a field, and when she reached it she slapped the trunk and released a victorious shout.

"I win! I win! Isolam—Oh!"

She noticed Isolam had tripped and was tangled in his legs, so she ran to help her friend to his feet.

"You'll get your legs right," she consoled him, "and then I won't be able to catch up."

Isolam huffed. "I don't want to race anymore, Galeia. It's not fair."

"You have to practice."

The pair walked to the tree, where a boy near Galeia's age sat with his nose buried in a book.

"Isn't that right, Ajo?"

"What's right?" the boy asked, raising his eyes from his reading. 

"Isolam's going to be faster than me one day."

"Oh yes," Ajo said with a nod, as if he were the authority on all things in the world. "Mother says he'll be the fastest thing in the woods. He's going to be her Messenger."

"See, Isolam? Even mother knows it."

Isolam grunted and laid down to nibble on the grass, while Galeia skipped over to Ajo and shoved herself roughly against him. She leaned in close to the page he had been reading, obstructing his view from it.

"What are you reading?"

"The Treatise of the Fae King and the Nok-Luk Clans."

"Is there wars in it?"

"It begins with a war, but mostly it's about making peace."

"I like war stories most."

"You like the fighting."

"Fighting's fun."

"It's a good way to get hurt," Ajo reprimanded, "especially as reckless as you are."

Galeia tugged on his sleeve. "Play with us."

"I can't."

"Come on, you can read later."

"No."

His tone was a little too sharp and Galeia pulled back. She stood and put her hands on her hips.

"If you don't have fun you'll shrivel up."

She bent over and groaned, mimicking an ancient, tired body.

"My name's Ajo," she said with an exaggerated shaking of her voice, "and I'm the oldest boy in the world—oh! My bones, my bones..."

Ajo closed the book.

"Yeah? Well, you're too wild, and if you don't learn some manners you'll end up as savage as a wolf."

He moved onto his hands and knees and rubbed dirt in his hair for good measure.

"I'm Galeia," he growled, "and I like to drool and suck on bones."

Ajo chased her, grunting and snorting, and Galeia laughed and ran circles around him while Isolam quietly watched.

"I'll eat you up!" Galeia yelled and pounced on Ajo.

The two wrestled, with Ajo obviously allowing the girl to gain the advantage, but while Ajo remained careful, Galeia attacked with full force, and she landed a few painful blows across him.